5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Nothing is so contemptible as the sentiments of the mob." Seneca, March 15, 2010
This review is from: Mobtown: A Novel (Hardcover)
The time is 1959, Ike Van Savage, P.I. is hired by Vicky Petrone, wife of the mobster, Joe Petrone. Vicky tells Ike that her husband intends to kill her. Her reason is that he knows she's no longer in love with him and she knows that Joe's first two wives died under questionable circumstances.
In this noir story, Rochester, New York is described as a town run by the mob. We learn a great deal about the city at that time, the politics, the parties by the lake and the manner in which the police seem to look the other way when the mob is at work.
Ike is involved in a number of related cases. Paddy Doyle, a slum landlord, who owns buildings downtown, refuses to sell his buildings to the mob. He sees one of his buildings after another, go up in smoke. Paddy asks Ike's help in bringing the arsonist to justice before he, Paddy, is forced to do it himself.
While working for Paddy Doyle, Ike is asked to investigate business owner Eddie Gill. His wife is suspicious and wants Eddie followed. Ike confirms her suspicions as he sees Eddie with a sixteen-year-old girl who worked for him. Eddie takes the girl to a night club and a motel.
Ike's investigation of these cases takes him around the city and his descriptions are vivid and timely. I particularly enjoyed the sequence when Ike was at a dance club where Stagger Lee was playing and words from the song melted in with the action.
I enjoy this kind of story with good action and knowing that I'm experiencing the events without a psychological approach to the character's actions.
The dialogue is excellent and reminds me of the great Raymond Chandler's P.I. Philip Marlow. Neither P.I. takes a back seat to threats and they get the job done at all costs. It's easy to visualize what is happening when the reader is given words like this, "We looked at each other, she tightened her eyes, and I knew she was talking the truth. Whatever it was between us was roaring down the tracks and it knocked my bitterness out of the way like so much horse feathers."
Yeah, baby!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solid period mystery, March 21, 2002
This review is from: Mobtown: A Novel (Hardcover)
Rochester is a town known more for Kodak than crime, but even in Western New York, 1959 the rackets are going strong. Joe Petrone is the local wiseguy and, according to wife #3, he has about as much loyalty to his betrotheds as did King Henry VIII. He's making noises like he's tired of her, and she wants Private Eye Dwight Van Savage to make sure she doesn't "accidentally" drive off a cliff or fall asleep in the bathtub.
"Ike" Van Savage makes for a good character because he's ordinary enough to earn the reader's trust and sympathy, just noble enough to keep going despite the odds stacked against him, and just dangerous enough to keep things interesting. Beyond all that, he seemed to be a good guy and a loving father. His scenes with his nine-year old daughter are both sweet and realistic, without being cloying. Ike may be hard-boiled on his surface, but his interior is warmer than Marlowe's every was.
Author Jack Kelly has not only created a likeable protagonist, but he has placed him in a fruitful setting as well. It's nice to read something a little off the beaten path, and Rochester seems like as good a place as easy to have a shot and a beer, and get beaten over the head. His evocation of 1950s America is excellent, with all the details down pat, from the cars and the clothes, to the smells in the air.
Highly recommended...
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Give Me a Break, January 26, 2003
Is it too much to ask for one of today's writers to hammer out a decent private eye novel? Kelly's MOBTOWN has a decent premise, starts out fine, but quickly becomes just another story about a divorced ex-cop private eye who smokes pot when he's depressed and moans about not being able to help people. I skimmed the whole last third of the book, tired of the same old garbage today's mystery writers have been turning out over the last 20 years. And unless you were around in 1959, when the story takes place, you'll be lost with all the pop-culture references. I loved the sequence where our hero Ike Van Savage made a promise to his daughter to be on time for her birthday and - SHOCKER! - was tied up by the cops for several hours answering questions about a murder and missed the party. How original. And the identity of one of the killers will be obvious, especially if you've read a lot in this genre. Go read Max Allan Collins instead if you want a period mystery, or any of the old-time pulp writers who knew how to tell this kind of story.
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